Indian Cricketers, Bookmakers Accused

By

Will Davies

May 16, 2013 3:42 p.m. ET

Shoving a towel into their pants, fiddling with a necklace, untucking their shirt; these are signals that investigators allege three Indian cricketers used to communicate with bookmakers around India in a spot-fixing scandal that has rocked the sport.

Delhi Police said Thursday they had arrested three players from the Rajasthan Royals cricket franchise for allegedly spot-fixing in the Indian Premier League, a hugely popular annual tournament involving many of the best cricketers from around the world, with many on million-dollar contracts or more.

Spot-fixing in cricket occurs when a player deliberately rigs part of the game, for example by bowling a poor delivery from which a batsman can easily score runs.

Police said the three players under investigation are Ankeet Chavan,Ajit Chandila and S. Sreesanth, a bowler who has represented India in 27 Tests, 53 One-Day Internationals and 10 Twenty20 matches. The IPL is a T20 tournament, which this year runs from April 3 to May 26.

The three accused cricketers couldn't be reached to comment Thursday. The Board of Control for Cricket in India said they have been suspended.

Delhi Police Spokesman Rajan Bhagat said the three cricketers are in police custody. They have lawyers, he said, but he doesn't know their names. Eleven bookmakers are also in custody, he said.

"There was an agreement between the bookies and the players that in a certain over they would give away a minimum amount of runs," Neeraj Kumar, the chief commissioner of Delhi Police, told a news conference. The players and bookmakers had been under investigation since April.

An over in cricket features six deliveries, the equivalent of pitches in baseball. After giving a prearranged signal, the bowler would aim to give away a predetermined amount of runs, Mr. Kumar said.

"You put your towel into your trousers, or you spend some time setting the field and give indications to the players.…Or [you] take out your locket or chain from your shirt, or take out both the shirt and the vest that you are wearing," he said.

Mr. Kumar highlighted a May 5 match in Jaipur, when the Rajasthan Royals played the Pune Warriors. He said Mr. Chandila had agreed with bookmakers to concede 14 runs in the second over of his spell in that game. He had been given an advance payment of two million rupees ($36,500) to carry out the fix and promised two million more after the match. But he forgot to give the predetermined signal, Mr. Kumar said.

"The money that was advanced to him had to be returned because he forgot to give the signal that he was supposed to give," Mr. Kumar added.

In Wednesday's match, just before the cricketers were arrested in Mumbai, Mr. Chandila "motivated" Mr. Chavan to take six million rupees to give away 13 runs or more in his second over, the police statement said. "He gave two runs in his first over and in his second over, he was hit for a six on the first ball, two runs on the second ball and another six on the third ball, after which he controlled his bowling and gave one more run in the remaining three balls. In all he gave 15 runs in his second over," the statement said.

It also alleged that Mr. Sreesanth, in a May 9 match against Kings XI Punjab in Mohali, gave away 13 runs in an over after putting a towel in his trousers and doing some warm-up exercises "to give bookies time to indulge in betting."

Mr. Sreesanth's mother, Savithridevi, told Indian television channel NDTV that her son was innocent. "I am sure he will not do such things. He will never betray cricket," she said. "I just want to say that my son is not a person who runs after money. This is very clear since he has turned down many offers from the film world as he is totally devoted to cricket, which is his life," she added.

Mr. Sreesanth spent much of last year out of the game because of injury. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal ahead of this year's IPL, he said he was glad to be back playing after being wheelchair-bound for some of his recovery period. "It certainly feels good to be back. God has been kind," he said.

In a statement Thursday, the Rajasthan Royals said it was "completely taken by surprise" by the arrests. "We are in touch with the BCCI on this matter. We will fully cooperate with the authorities to ensure a thorough investigation," it said in a statement. "The management at Rajasthan Royals has a zero-tolerance approach to anything that is against the spirit of the game."

The Rajasthan Royals have performed well in this year's IPL and are third in the standings. It is likely to be one of four teams to qualify for the knockout stages, which start in New Delhi on May 21.

Rahul Dravid, the captain of the Rajasthan Royals and one of the most respected cricketers in the world, said he was "shocked, disappointed and distressed" by the arrests of three of his teammates.

BCCI President N. Srinivasan said in a teleconference that he believed the tournament would continue. "I am also equally sad as all my colleagues are in the BCCI that the name of a player who has played Tests for India [Mr. Sreesanth] is involved. But that doesn't mean the entire game is corrupt," he said.

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